


How Far I'll Go

by writtenwxrks



Series: Micah's Irondad1000 Entries [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, Flash is kind of being a dick, Fluff, Fluff with a tiny piece of angst, Gen, Irondad1000, NOT STARKER - Freeform, No Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Social Media, but - Freeform, i thank the coolest aunt for being a beta, it's not even angsty istg, we don't do that here - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 09:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18848371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtenwxrks/pseuds/writtenwxrks
Summary: i am NOT spider-man @peterparkeridk why mr. stark rly decided to mentor me, like,,,,,, wh y. all i do is annoy him with memes and vines and whatever, im not even talented. i can barely even play an instrument (that's why i quit band), im just ur typical star wars fanboy that's also a nerd.|i am… irondad @tonystarkreplying to @peterparkerno. you're grounded and that's it. no exceptions this time, even if you use those really cute puppy eyes of yours. i love you for who you are, kiddo.Prompt 28 for the Irondad1000 writing challenge: The amazement at how far some people come with so little talent.





	How Far I'll Go

**Author's Note:**

> Peter's insecure, Flash is kind of a dick, and Tony is Tony

**i am NOT spider-man** _ @peterparker _

idk why mr. stark rly decided to mentor me, like,,,,,, wh y. all i do is annoy him with memes and vines and whatever, im not even talented. i can barely even play an instrument (that's why i quit band), im just ur typical star wars fanboy that's also a nerd.

|

**i am… irondad** _ @tonystark _

_ replying to @peterparker _

you're grounded and that's it. no exceptions this time, even if you use those really cute puppy eyes of yours. i love you for who you are, kiddo.

 

**i am… irondad** _ @tonystark _

_ replying to @tonystark _

besides, look at how far you've gone. you've come so far even if you don't have that much talent. i'm not insulting you, i'm telling you that i love you, being you and being what you are and doing what you love.

 

**i am NOT spider-man** _ @peterparker _

_ replying to @tonystark _

i know mr. stark. this was supposed to be on my private account but anyways smh. love you too!

 

**irondad is my life** _ @ir0ndad _

_ replying to @tonystark _

mentor??? more like father figure. we stan a supportive irondad

 

**i am… a stressed CEO** _ @pepperpotts _

_ replying to @ir0ndad _

supportive irondad indeed.

 

**warmachiner0x** _ @jamesrhodes _

_ replying to @pepperpotts _

more like helicopter parent

|

**warmachiner0x** _ @jamesrhodes _

_ replying to @jamesrhodes _

what the  _ fuck,  _ anthony!  _ @tonystark  _ what the hell is up with my username?!

 

**_2.1M likes, 1.7M reblogs, 2k replies_ **

 

**~~~**

 

To say Peter's shocked was an understatement. He was  _ livid.  _ He mentally scolded himself for tweeting with the wrong account, as he had both a public and a private twitter. He sighed as he finished his last class, lost in thought as he had nothing else to do when he got home except homework. He was still grounded, even if he tried to explain his case to both Aunt May and Mister Stark. Aunt May just ruffled his hair and said that 

 

_ Wait. _ It's Friday today. Peter let out another mental groan as today was the day he goes to the Compound for his suit upgrades, or just mentor-mentee bonding. Mostly mentor-mentee bonding. Usually, he'd be really excited to go out, but he’s just waiting for the inevitable lecture about his tweet. If it weren’t for his stupidity, they would spend the entire afternoon in the lab, and watch movies in the evening, eat whatever they want for dinner.

 

He flinched as the school bell rang, enhanced senses being a pain in the ass whenever he’s at school. He can hear every single gossip his entire school has to offer. School bells are also a pain as they LITERALLY rattle his skull to tell him to get moving for his next subject, or in this case, go out of the room because it’s dismissal and Happy’s probably already waiting for him so he could go see Mister Stark.

 

“See you on Monday, Penis!” He hears Flash yell in the hallways followed by a series of snickers. He had more things to worry about, such as his twitter incident. One may say he’s overreacting, but once Mister Stark puts his mind on something, there’s little you can do to change his mind. Once, Peter got stabbed on patrol, and he was almost grounded from Spider-Man forever, if not for the reassurance that he’ll try his best to not get stabbed.

 

He sighs, earphones tucked in his ears as his went outside, looking downcast instead of his usual energetic self. He returned some of his books to his locker, thinking of possible reasons for his tweet.

 

_ “Why does Mister Stark even like you? You’re just a stupid nerd with no talent!”  _ Flash used to taunt him with that statement. Good thing though, MJ’s always there to defend him, always resulting in her giving Flash a well-deserved kick in the shins. God, he loved her. The sentence stuck with him, as always, as his self-esteem at school was zero to none. His aunt tried reporting Flash to Principal Morita, but of course, Flash gets off easily, as his mom is the head of their PTA. He cried himself to sleep during that evening, not even going on patrol. Mister Stark had asked him what was bothering him, as he never missed a day of patrol, ever. Even if he had exams the following day.

 

It was obvious to both Mister Stark and Aunt May that he has these… self-destructive tendencies, but this, this is new.

 

**_mister stark:_ ** _ pete, why did you miss patrol last night? _

 

**_peter:_ ** _ i had a lot of homework. _

 

**_mister stark:_ ** _ lies, you do your homework at school _

 

That reply was definitely a lie. He thanked his damned luck for Tony not pushing him into saying what was wrong. Good thing Aunt May said that he wasn’t allowed to go on patrols if his homeworks weren’t finished, and they weren’t. It’s definitely a valid reason, even if it’s obvious that Mister Stark doesn’t believe him.

 

He went inside the car, knowing full well that Happy’s annoyed with his rambling, so he stayed quiet, fiddling with his phone to skip to the next song on his playlist. The car didn’t move though, Peter looking at the vehicle’s rear-view mirror, only to see a lean looking person with orange glasses that looked really expensive.

 

“So Pete, want to explain why you’ve missed patrol and what happened on your Twitter? By the way, Pepper yelled at me that night because of another so-called stunt that I did. So, if you want to save both our asses from Pep’s wrath, I suggest you tell me what’s wrong, and we’ll try to fix it, preferably before she kills us both.” The older man says, glasses reflecting some light on the rear-view mirror.

 

Definitely screwed.

 

**\---**

 

By the time he got into the Tower, they made their way onto Tony’s much faster, a little wider, personal elevator. He hears Tony hum some random song, probably waiting for him to start the conversation, probably with an “I’m sorry.” even though Mister Stark will cut him off, reprimand him for what he did, and boom! He’s grounded from Spider-Man.

 

If he doesn’t talk, then Tony will use Aunt May to scare him into talking. It always works, because he didn’t want May to freak out. If she freaks out, he freaks out, and everything goes to shit. There’s no safe way to get out of this. He’ll be grounded anyways.

 

If he tried running away, which he never does, but if he did, Mister Stark can lock the tower down even before he can say “Tony, wait.”

 

Well, Tony’s still humming, so it’s probably time to— 

 

They’ve arrived at the Penthouse. The imaginary timer in his head went off, signifying his inevitable doom.

 

Wow. He’s being so overdramatic today. He sits down on a nearby couch, head in his hands as he thought about his punishment from being grounded for a week at minimum, to being permanently banned from Spider-Man. The chances of being permanently banned from Spider-Manning is slim, but he’s not willing to take the risk.

 

“I can literally hear you overthink.” Mister Stark starts the conversation by cutting off his thoughts, tossing a chocolate bar to him. He immediately catches it, spider senses going on autopilot and he’s starving from school anyways. Mister Stark sits down next to him on the expensive sofa. He’s usually wary on sitting or using expensive things, but mindlessly sitting down on the sofa probably worth more than the apartment 

 

“Yeah, cause you keep me in suspense and stay quiet while you leave me with my thoughts on what my punishment this time’s gonna be.” He replies.

 

The answer caught Tony off guard, obviously not expecting the kid’s answer. Was he turning that strict? He only wanted to be a good mentor to Peter. Sure, Peter had called him dad once but he was really sleepy that time and was pretty much out of it. God, he was rambling.

 

So, he decided to do what the kid  _ wants  _ instead. Try to coax him into telling him what’s wrong, instead of yelling at him or doing something much more worse, much more like  _ Howard.  _ He shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts.  _ He will never turn into an asshole of a father like Howard. _

 

_ Wait, did he just refer to himself as the kid’s father? _

 

_ Wow. That’s confusing. But definitely not surprising. _

 

It’s like as if he noticed. It took him Rhodey and Pepper showing him real proof, proof as in  _ pictures _ , taken by his AI behind his back, for him to realize that he IS, in fact, acting as the kid’s parental, paternal, father, whatever you want to call it, figure. Rhodey called him stupid, Pepper called him oblivious.

 

Well, the one thing they didn’t know is that he saved those photos onto his private servers.

 

“Why don’t we eat something first before watching one of those Star-Wars movies you love so much? If you don’t, well…. I’m not afraid to put the Percy Jackson movies on loop.”

 

“God, Mister Stark! Fine, just play Empire Strikes Back! The Percy Jackson movies are so bad! Ugh, the Percy Jackson movies are a disgrace.” He rolls his eyes at his mentor’s offer. Looping the Percy Jackson films? No way! He would prefer re-reading the books instead, thank you very much. No offense to those who actually like the movies, it’s just his personal preferences. Annabeth’s eyes weren’t even gray! They could’ve edited it, or could’ve just used colored contact lenses instead. She wasn’t even blonde!

 

Tony chuckles, ruffling his hair as he orders four boxes of pizza. Three for Peter, one for him. He leans his head onto Mister Stark’s shoulder as he relaxes into the position, yawning. Mister Stark places the three boxes of pizza on his lap, before opening the box at the top of the pizza pile. He eats, anxiety bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

 

Even though Peter’s sure that Mister Stark’s doing this to coax him out of his shell, and tell him what’s wrong, he’s still scared of what Mister Stark will do this time. He’s scared for his vigilante alter-ego, because if he doesn’t go to patrol for even a week, the crime in Queens will rise up once again, and he can’t deal with Jameson’s bullshit right now.

 

“Hey, kid. Look at me.” Tony stands up, Peter looking up to see his face.

 

“Do your friends Ted, or Ned, whatever, and Michelle only like you because of your intelligence? Because you and I are close?” Mister Stark holds his chin, locking him into eye contact that he didn’t want. He tried pushing away, but his mentor has his chin firmly locked in place.

 

“Wha-What?” He replies, shocked at the sudden question. “Of course not! At least for Ned… I’m not that sure about Michelle, though. She’s hard to read. She’s really—” He was cut off by Mister Stark placing his other hand on his mouth. This effectively shuts him up.

 

“Shut it. You’re rambling. They chose to be you friends because of who you are, right?” Tony asks.

 

“Yeah.” Is Mister Stark giving him a  _ lecture  _ instead of taking away his suit?

 

“That’s the same thing why everyone, including me, love you very much Peter. The brains, the intellect, it’s just an added bonus.” Tony adds.

 

“Ye-Yeah, I know, Mister Stark. It’s just—there’s this guy at school and he—nevermind.”

 

“I’m suing that Flash kid.” Tony sighs, eyes rolling. He could have the kid’s future destroyed with a snap of his fingers.

 

“Tony, just don’t.”

 

“Oh, hey! You called me Tony. But anyways, we all love you for who you are, not because of your talents or interests or intellect, yada yada yada. Do you want proof?”

 

“No thanks. But Mister Stark—” He tries to argue.

 

“—And there he goes again with the formalities.” Tony scoffs, but still looking fondly at his kid. “Even if you weren’t as intelligent as I know you are, people are still going to love you, kiddo.”

 

“Really? You think so?”

 

Peter’s voice then had been so trusting, so trusting in his mentor that he believed whatever he said was to be true. It scared Tony. He might end up breaking the kid, just like what  _ Howard  _ did to him.

 

But, if Pepper and Rhodey trusted him not to mess this up, then… He  _ will  _ not mess this up. He’ll try to be the father figure Peter needs in his life.

 

“Of course I do. It just amazes me at how far some people come with so little talent. I’m not mocking you, Pete, but intellect and all that stuff does nothing for you if you’re capable of no emotion. Intellect and smarts will only take you so far, but your compassion and good heart will take you further.”

 

“Thanks so much, Mister Stark.” Tony rolls his eyes at the name.

 

“Tony! Geez, kid. You’re still grounded though.” He snarks back. Peter laughs, accepting the punishment.

 

“For how long?” Peter asks.

 

“Indefinitely, unless you promise to call me Tony from now on.”

 

“Oh come on!” Peter complains. “That’s not fair! This sucks.” Peter focuses on the movie instead, a fight scene going on.

 

They spent the rest of the day watching movies, Peter’s head still resting on Tony’s shoulder as they ate pizza together. Yes, they were silent, but sometimes, silence speaks when words cannot.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [Toni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonystank_not_tonystark/profile) for being the beta for this entry! I might do more Irondad1000 entries, it depends.
> 
> I have a [Tumblr!](https://writtenwxrks.tumblr.com/)


End file.
